Five Unexpected Dental Tips from Your Dentist

Lenox Hill Dental Tips | Manhattan Dentistry

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Your dentist gives you tips about good dental hygiene, so why might there be information offered that you would consider unexpected? Because these tips may be different from what you might expect to hear from your dentist. Let’s review them:

Perfect may not be as good as healthy — We are talking about your smile, or in effect the quality of your teeth. Some people want the lofty goal of having perfect teeth, but will sacrifice the health of their teeth for that goal. Your teeth and therefore your smile are unique to you, and unless you have serious issues such as bone disease or a severe bite abnormality, you may wish to leave your teeth alone other than keeping them healthy. It would be boring if we all had the same identical smile, so decide what smile makes you happy, even if it’s less than perfect.

Home is where the important work happens — When it comes to dental health, what you do at home on a daily basis is far more important than what the dentist does a couple of times per year. You need to develop a good consistent dental health routine including brushing, flossing, and even a visual inspection of your mouth and gums. Don’t ignore dental pain or other problems, because small dental problems can become big ones if you ignore them.

Alignment is better than straight — When it comes to teeth, having them all perfectly straight is of no real advantage, other than the cosmetic look. What is far more important is how the teeth are aligned with each other. If teeth are crooked, cause you to bite your internal mouth tissues, or are misaligned with teeth above or below, you can have pain or other long-term dental issues. We can help you gain proper alignment but don’t get caught up in the concept that your teeth should be perfectly straight.

Your gums are important, so we both need to pay attention to them — We don’t poke around your gums during a dental cleaning to cause you pain, but rather we want to be sure you aren’t developing gum disease. You can be developing gum disease long before you become aware of it. We will take the time during your periodic cleanings to visually inspect your gums, remove plaque at the gum line, and look for any signs of disease. You can help by flossing regularly to remove plaque, a good source of bacteria that can create gum issues.

Perfectly white teeth can be a bad thing — Teeth whitening has become quite popular, with home kits, whitening bars in malls, and dentists performing whitening procedures. However, all these procedures use chemicals to bleach your teeth. Those chemicals can weaken your teeth over time, create tooth sensitivity, and even burn your mouth and gums. Don’t get caught up in the concept of having perfectly white teeth, because you can be doing more harm than good.

Dr. Lattinelli will discuss these tips and all dental hygiene recommendations with you. We consider you part of our dental team and want to help you develop good dental hygiene habits. If you have any questions about your teeth or how to keep them healthy, let Dr. Lattinelli know. We look forward to keeping you in good dental health for years to come!